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(N o Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet '1. J. WOJCIEOHOWSKI.

ORGAN REED No. 568,124. I Patented Sept. 22, 1896.

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5 co moraumo" wnsnmnmu u c (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 J. WOJGIEGHOWSKI, ORGAN REED.

No. 568,124. Patented Sept. 22, 1896.

m: NORRIS PETERS co. PHoYaun-m" WASHINGTON. u. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPI I \VOJCIEGI-IOWSKI, OF KOIVNO, RUSSIA.

ORGAN REED.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 568,124, dated September 22, 1896.

Application filed January 14, 1896. Serial No. 575,474. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Josnrn WOJCIECHOW- SKI, a subject of the Czar of Russia, residing at Kowno, in the Empire of Russia, have 111- vented certain new and useful Improvements in the Manufacture of Reeds for Musical Instruments, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has relation to the manufacture of reeds for musical instruments, such as melodious, accordions, harmonicas, concertinas, and the like.

The principal objects of my invention are, first, to provide a durable reed of simple construction and adapted to maintain its purity of tone; second, to provide a reed one end of which is molded or soldered in a supportingframe and adapted to vibrate in suitable channels formed in said frame; third, to provide a reed the under surface of which is concave and the upper surface fiat, and, fourth, to provide a reed formed from a strip of drawn metal coated with copper, bronze, or the like by electrodeposition or otherwise on both sides and then punched out, bent, and a portion of the coating removed to constitute a frame and reed integral with each other.

My inventiomstated in general terms, consists of a reed for musical instruments constructed and arranged in substantially the manner hereinafter described and claimed.

The nature and scope of my invention will be more fully understood from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming part hereof, and in which- Figures 1 and 2 are respectively longitudinal section and top or plan views of the usual reed and frame. Fig. 3 represents a plan view of three ordinary reeds separated from the frame. Fig. 4 is alongitudinal section of the improved frame and reed, illustrating the end of the reed soldered or molded in the frame. Fig. 5 is a similar section of a modified form of the reed. Fig. 6 is a top or plan view of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is an end elevation of Fig. 6. Fig. 7 represents in underneath plan two reeds formed with a concave under and a fiat upper face, the ends of said reeds being united by molding or soldering the same into the frame, and illustrating a method of tuning such reeds. Fig. 8 repre sents in top or plan view a complete octave, including sharps and flats, of reeds united to the frame according to my invention. Fig. 8 is a cross-section of one of the reeds of Fig. 8. Fig. 9 represents in side and plan views a punch for cutting out a reed and frame. Fig. 10 represents in cross-section a modified form of my invention in which the reed and frame are integral, the reed and frame consisting initially of a strip of drawn metal coated on all sides with copper, bronze, or the like; and Figs. 11, 12, and 13 illustrate in longitudinal sections the different stages of the manufacture of a reed illustrated in Fig. 10.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the old-style reed a was enlarged and apertured at one end and united thereat to a frame 0 by means of a pin or bolt 11, the free end of the reed a be ing vibrated in a channel or slit 0 in the frame 0. These reeds a were rectangular in cross-section, both the upper and lower faces being flat. This construction of reed was and is defective, for the reason that the reed when vibrating will slip at its apertured end from under the pin or bolt 1), and hence such reed rapidly loses its clearness and purity of tone. Besides this defect, to change the pitch of the reed should the same in the course of hand manufacture be incorrect, the reed must be filed on its edge, as illustrated at A, B, and C, Fig. 3, either at the point or base of the same. When the reed is filed at the base, its elasticity is impaired and the reed readily breaks under too violent agitation or vibration. If the reed is filed at the point, pieces of the metal will, unless extraordinary care be exercised, cling to the point and the reed in vibrating will lose its pure sound and will be harsh and stringy. To remedy these defects is the principal object of my present invention.

Instead of uniting the reed'cc to its frame 0 by means of bolts, rivets, or pins 1), use is made of means, as shown in Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 8, in which the end of the reed ais united to the frame 0 either by casting or molding the frame cupon the end of the reed or by soldering or.brazing the end of the reed directly to or in the frame. Where the end of the reed is to be soldered in the frame, the same may be accomplished by dipping the end of the reed in hydrochloric acid, then inserting the same in a slit formed in the frame, and finally pressing the frame down upon the end of the reed.

Another way of uni ting the frame and reed to either is illustrated in Figs. 9 to 13 of the drawings. In this form a strip of drawn metal a is taken, such as is ordinarily used for reeds, andincased or covered with a layer a of copper, bronze, phosphor-bronze, or the like, either by electrodeposition or in any well-known manner. The strip thus formed is then punched out into the form illustrated in Fig. 11 by means of the ordinary metal punch illustrated in Fig. 9, the said punch forming at the same time the slit a which is slightly wider than the reed-tongue. The punched-out portion of the coated strip is then bent upward at right angles to the main body of the strip, as illustrated in Fig. 12, and the coating (L is removed from both sides of the drawn metal a, thus leaving the reed tongue (I, which is thereupon bent down above the slit d in a plane parallel with the strip, as shown in Fig. 13. This form of reed is especially adapted for instruments manipulated by hand, such as harmonicas, accordions, eoncertinas, and the like, whereas the reed illustrated in Figs. 4-, 5, 6, and 8 is soldered or molded to a frame 0, generally of lead and very heavy, and is especially adapted for use in melodions or the like.

To avoid the disadvantages heretofore existing in the tuning of the reed, it is preferred to make the reed in the form illustrated in Fig. 7, in which one surface is flat and the other concave, thus thickening the edges or sides of the reed. To tune the reed, a portion of the thickened edges is removed by a file. The portion removed may be at the free end of the reed, as indicated at 13 of Fig. 7, or at the base of the reed, as indicated at O in Fig. 7, and this filing neither appreciably weakens the reed or impairs the clearness or quality of its tone.

Having thus described the nature and objects of my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A reed for musicalinstruments, consisting of a strip of metal, one surface of which is flat while the other surface is concave, and a frame in which one end of said strip is secured, substantially as described.

2. A reed for musical instruments, consisting of a drawn strip of metal, one surface of which is flat while the other is concave, the end of the strip being formed integral with the frame of the reed, substantially as de scribed.

3. A reed for musical instruments, consistin g of a strip of drawn metal coated with copper or the like, punched out in required form and the tongue of the reed freed from its coating and bent to required form, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my signature in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH VOJCIECIIOXVSKI.

\Vitnesses:

CASIMIR DE J AvovovsKI, AHAN LAws'rZA. 

